The incoming Chicago Grill has a Middle-Eastern-meets-American-Midwestern menu that combines falafel, gyros and homemade hummus with Chicago favorites like Vienna dogs and cheeseburgers.

“It’s time. Business is good. I’ve been looking and looking for another location,” said Abbas Amin, owner. “This is an opportunity. The space was pretty much ready to go.”

He expects to open the Ballard branch in the first week of January.

Amin, originally from Jordan, worked in Chicago before opening Shishkabob Mediterranean Food in this location in 2008. Amin left, and his partner changed the name to Chicago Grill and continued to operate the place for six months. Amin returned, bought out the partner, and has been operating the restaurant ever since.

He kept the name and some of the popular things like Vienna dogs and Philly cheesesteak sandwiches because he found he had two separate customers coming for the two different kinds of food.

A new menu debuting in January at both locations will have customers’ favorites plus an expanded salad and vegetarian section. The new website for both locations will be mychicagogrill.com.